Entertainment news

I never intended the blog to be used for ramblings about entertainment news, but there were a few new bits recently that I just can’t resist commenting on. And I (Ines) will add something to Dan´s comments.

1. Lance Bass of N’Sync is gay. When I was in high school, boy bands reigned supreme. Of course, their music was not well-liked by hormone infused teenage boys, and we expressed this distaste by indiscriminately labeling any member of a boy band as a homosexual. It seems that we were right at least once. Yes! Long before N´Sync were popular in Germany, we had two very successful bands called "Caught in the Act" from the Netherlands and "Boyzone" from Ireland. In each band was one gay guy. Of course, no one knew they were gay. But they ended up as a couple. And the bands split up.

2. Mel Gibson was picked up for drunk driving. I only mention this because it undermines a joke from the Simpson’s episode in which Gibson guess stars. At one point Gibson says “I speed all the time, but cops never give me a ticket” before lamenting “Its hell being Mel”. See how relevant the Simpson’s can be? Today, I was in charge of our newspaper´s soft news. I wrote something about Mel Gibson. He didn´t only drink and drive. He also insulted the policemen in an antisemitist way. American newspapers predict that his career is over.

3. Rockstar supernova. Tommy Lee (Mötley Crue), Jason Newstead (Metallica), and Gilby Clarke (Guns and Roses) are forming a band and they need a lead singer. Where can they find him/her? Reality TV of course. Personally, I don’t really see the appeal of joining a band with a bunch of musicians that haven’t been popular since the 80s (or at best the mid 90s). Then again, I’m not a TV executive or a washed up rockstar.

4. MTV turns 25. Amazing isn’t it? Check out the top moments list. Seems like the majority of the most memorable moments occurred after the network sold its soul and stopped playing videos. Also, isn’t it strange how something can begin as a countercultural phenomenon and then move into and even dictate main stream pop culture? I would almost say that the cartoons on Adult Swim are moving in a similar direction, but I think they’re too weird to become “normal”.

5. Pam Anderson married Kid Rock. Gross.

Dan and Ines